For the third day in a row, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies Wednesday scrambled into riot gear, fired clouds of tear gas and rubber bullets, and locked down hundreds of inmates in race-related brawling at county jails in Castaic. About 300 inmates fought each other with fists, knees and homemade knives at the Pitchess East Correctional Facility on Wednesday evening, said sheriff's spokesman Bruce Thomas.

An Arizona inmate received seven life sentences for his role in a 15-day prison standoff during which he helped hold two guards hostage in a watch tower and raped one of them. Steven Coy, who was serving seven life terms before seizing the watch tower at a prison in Buckeye, west of Phoenix, with another inmate in January, also received other sentences ranging from six to 35 years. Coy pleaded guilty in March to 14 charges, including sexual assault, escape, kidnapping and assault.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will seek charges against at least 21 inmates involved in racially motivated rioting that has left two prisoners dead and more than 100 injured, officials said Thursday. Seven are suspects in the death of Wayne Tiznor, 45, a black inmate who was killed during the first wave of violence, Sheriff Lee Baca said. The others include 10 inmates at the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, and four at the Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles.

Eight staff members at the maximum-security Calipatria state prison were injured Friday when five inmates broke into an office and attacked them with handmade weapons. The two sergeants and six correctional officers were taken by ambulance to Pioneers Memorial Hospital in Brawley after the 9:30 a.m. disturbance. They suffered stab wounds and other injuries.

Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide investigators confirmed Wednesday that trusties in a crowded holding cell at the Men's Central Jail were improperly given confidential information detailing the charges against a 20-year-old accused child molester, who was subsequently beaten and strangled by other inmates.

New evidence of a "code of silence" that protects rogue prison guards from punishment emerged Wednesday in a confidential investigative report about the beating of two inmates at a state youth facility in Stockton. The report obtained by The Times shows that descriptions of the beatings by four employees are in conflict with a videotape of the Jan. 20 incident at the California Youth Authority prison.

SACRAMENTO -- A high-ranking internal affairs officer in the Department of Corrections testified Thursday that his career was derailed after he refused to divulge details about an investigation of Chino prison guards to the state's powerful prison officers' union.

Inmates beat and broke the jaw of a suspected Al Qaeda operative who is being held in Castellon, Spain, on charges that he helped plot the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S., officials said. The Europa Press agency reported that prisoners accused Imad Yarkas, 42, a Syrian-born Spaniard, of being responsible for last year's train bombings in Madrid, which killed 191 people.

A 29-year-old prisoner from Orange County was killed and two other inmates were wounded Wednesday when guards at High Desert State Prison in Susanville fired to break up a fight, prison officials said. Lt. Paul Edwards identified the dead prisoner as David Torres, who was serving an 11-year sentence for robbery. The incident began Wednesday morning when 10 Asian American inmates attacked eight Latino prisoners, officials said in a statement.

One man was injured in a fight that broke out among 25 inmates at the Peter Pitchess Honor Rancho in Saugus early Sunday, but the violence was quelled within five minutes by deputies using sting grenades, the Sheriff's Department reported. The disturbance between members of rival gangs erupted about 1:50 a.m. in a 100-inmate dorm in the jail's maximum-security North Facility, Deputy Diane Hecht said. Inmates used broken broomsticks, telephone handsets and metal shanks as weapons.